Labor Civil War over Keystone XL

Laborer's union prez 'repulsed' by greens

President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline has ignited a bitter war between labor unions aligned with environmental groups opposing the pipeline and others who argue the project will create thousands of jobs.

Trade unions representing workers who stand to benefit from thousands of new construction jobs from the Keystone XL pipeline are furious at other unions that joined environmentalists in opposing the project. …

The issue reflects a decades-old conflict between union leaders who believe creating jobs is paramount and others who are more strongly aligned with progressive groups on environmental and social causes.

After the White House blocked the pipeline in January, Laborers union president Terry O'Sullivan said he was "repulsed by some of our supposed brothers and sisters lining up with job killers like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council to destroy the lives of working men and women."